Aerosol apparatus for decorative coating and process for making said apparatus



Sept. 25, 1956 A. L. EDELSTEIN 2,764,454 AEROSOL APPARATUS FORDECORATIVE COATING AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAID APPARATUS Filed Dec. 29,1953 7% 1 15 16 C 7, ml 12 l llflgm i!- I! \\\\\Q 1: 22 \i INVENTOYRfllfier g l. [dds/aw @1447 M ,a by

I ATTORNEYS AERosoL APPARATUS non nEcoRATtvE 'COAT- ING .AND PROCESS nonMAKING SAID AP- PARATUS AlbertL. Edelstein, New York, N. Y.

Application December 29, 1953, Serial No.400,950

13 Claims. (Cl. 299-95) The present invention relates (1)' to anaerosolcon- *tainer unit for dispensing a surface coating spray fordecorative purposes, and more particularly to a unit of this type forapplying a coating to the surface of a Christmastree or to othersurfaces to simulate a snow Covering or a plastic flocking by means of astencil'for giving various designs, and (2) ,to a method of producingsuch a unit.

Heretofore, in loading aerosol spray containers of the type described,the mixture of solids in loose subdivided or granular form is chargedinto the container intherequired proportions, andthe propellent in theform of a compressed liquified gas, or in the .form of aliquid atsub-zero temperature, is introduced or poured intothe container. Thesudden evaporation of the liquid propellent as it comes into contactwith the container creates pressure surges causing the loose subdividedsolids to blow out of the container and into the. atmosphere.

One object or feature of the present invention is .to

provide an aerosol unit for dispensing a surface coating spraycontaining solids in suspension or solution, the unit being constructedto facilitate loading of thecontainer and capping the same withoutblowing out the solids therefrom into the atmosphere and to assure thecharging of the container with the right amount of the solids and theproper proportions of the ingredients thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide .a method of producing anaerosol container unit of the. general type described, which preventsthe blowing of solids from the container into thesatmosphere duringloading and which assures the charging of said container with the rightamount of solids and the right proportion of ingredients thereof.

*In carrying out certain objects and features of the present invention,the solids are charged into the aerosol container in the condition of a"preformed self-contained cartridge holding the ingredients in the rightamounts and proportions and designed todisintegrate by the solventaction of the propellent and/ or liquids miscible therewith,

- to allow their ready dispersion or solution therein. Hereinafter, bypropellent is intended not only the main gas propellent having a lowboiling point, such as Freon-12 (dichlorodifluoromethane) but also otherliquids miscible and blended therewith to reduce the propelling vaporpressure of the liquid in the container and perhaps to increase thesalient action of the liquid.

The cartridge is preferably in the form of a capsule or case forreceiving solids in subdivided or granular form to be enclosed in thecapsule. Itis desired that'at least a part of the capsule, case orcartridge-is made of a material easily soluble in the propellentemployed in=the container. The cap of the capsule or case'has at one orboth ends, for example, a material soluble in the propellent, or thewhole capsule or case may be of such. soluble material. Under the actionofthe propellent, the case or capsule, or the soluble parts thereofdissolves, thereby permitting the propellent to reach the:solids carriedbythe "solids in the cartridge.

case anddissolve ordisperse them,- so that they can' -be discharged fromthe container as part of -a spray.

"Various other objects, features and-advantages of the invention :areapparent lfromthe following particular description and from inspectionof the accompanying drawing, in which:

"Fig. 1 is a section of anaerosolcontainer"spray unit embodyingthepresent invention; and

Fig. -2 is a sectionof acartridge adaptedto be charged intothe container'of an areosol unit-and-embodyingthe present invention.

Referring to the drawings," there *isshown a container 10,-which, perse, forms no part of the present invention and-which may be of anywell'known construction. In the form illustrated, the container 10comprises a body '11 in the form of a cylindrical can'having an opening12-at the top, to'which is crirnped or otherwise attached, a valve cap13 containing a'va'l've 14 adapted to be opened' by a valve stem 15 inthe form of a resiliently-pressed thumb piece having a discharge opening16.

'Depending from the inlet of the valve 14 is a flexible standpipe 17forming-a unit with the valve cup 13 and extending in flexedcondition-to oneside of therounded bottom of the'conta'iner body ll.Upon application of tilting-pressure-on'the'thumbpiece 15 towards theoutlet 'valve'-opening16, the contents of the containerare'dischargedfrom said opening in the form of a spray.

"The drawing shows for the' purpose of illustration one -form'of valvehead 13 for the container 10, but it must be understood that this v'alvehead -may be of any other "type, manipulatable many other manner.

The "container'ltl holds a propellent 20 suitable for aerosol devices.Common forms ofpropellentsyknown as Freons, consist essentiallyoffluorinated hydrocarbon -derivatives ofthe short chain and small ringaliphatic series of organic compounds and especially of the methaneand-ethane series. In the specificform illustrated, this propellent 20consists essentially "of 'dichlorodifluoromethane 'CClzFz (Freon 12)'Since the vaporpressure of Freon 12 is high (70-lbs. persquare inchgauge'at 70 F.'), requiring the use of containers of comparablestrength, this Freon 12 is usually blended with othertpropellents havinglower'vapor pressure and miscible with the main propellent to permit theuse'o'flighter containers. This blending propellent -may, for example,be :trichloromonofluoromethane-CClsF '(Freon 11) or methylene chloridehaving lower vapor pressure and serving also as'a solvent forthe Alsothe propellent may, as far as certain aspects of the-inventionareconcernedybe of any' suitable type,'it must conform with certainrequirements forthe purpose of the present invention. 'It'must be. asolvent for those, parts of the cartridge, holding the solids togetherin the form of a self-contained 'unit against disintegration. If, forexample, the cartridge'has a case, at least part of which'is designedtodissolve awaytunder the solvent action of the propellent, thenthis'propellent must obviously. be..a solvent for this part of the case,and must also serve asna solvent or at least must be able to dispersethe solids into finely divided sprayable 'form.

.As a feature of the present invention, theactive solid 2 having aclosure or cap 26 in the form of a disc closing -its:open;end.ZThecapsuletubefzs-and cap-'26 are'rnade Patented Sept. 25, 1956 terialsoluble in the propellent20, only parts of the case may be made ofsoluble material. For example, the case tube 25 maybe of insolublematerial, such as polyethylene, cellophane, orcellulose'acetate,,whilethe cap orclosure 26 may be of soluble material, such'aspolystyrene. If desired, the tube 25 may be made of insoluble materialand may be open at both endsand closed at these ends with caps or discsof soluble polystyrene. In many instances, the tube 25 may be made of'glass, or tin, or. paper, or fiber, or tin foil, or aluminum, oraluminum foil, or of any othergsuitablematerial for the purpose. Ifdesired, the tube 25 may be made with perforations which are filled withmaterials that are soluble in the propellant or in another solvent;

The solids 24 in the capsule or case 23 consist of a mix- I ture infinely divided or granular form and comprise as one ingredient asubstance serving as the bulking material and as another ingredient, aflocking agent, the combination of these ingredients, when sprayed,forming a fluffy, white, snow-like coating. More especially, the bulkingmaterial is one of the higher members of the series of fatty acids,which are white, waxy solids at ordinary temperatures. A suitable activesolid material for the purpose. consists essentially of stearic acid,which in commercial form may contain palmitic acid. This solid materialis easily soluble in propellents of chlorinatedtype,

such as thepropellents contemplated in accordance with the presentinvention and described above.

The resinous material is desirably a polymer of poly 'vinyl acetate,which is colorless and transparent and which willdissolve in thepropellent contemplated in accordance with the present invention. Thisparticular resinous material is desirable because of its high solubilityin the propellent, permitting thereby the production of an aerosolcontainer unit having a larger proportion of dissolved solids than ispermissible with other types of resins. Another. resin which is suitablebut which does not allow for such a high proportion of dissolved solidsis an acrylic resin, such as Lucite, consisting essentially of acopolymer of n-butyl and iso-butyl methacrylate in approximateproportions 50-50.

The solid composition may be white, if a white decorative surface inimitation of snow is desired, or may contain coloring matter incaseatinted or colored surface coating is required.

An example of a highly desirable formulation for the solids 24 in thecartridge 22 consists essentially of stearic acid (including palmiticacid, if any) by weight and /a polymer of polyvinyl acetate (GelvaV-15-R), and an example of a suitable propellent for such solidsconsists essentially of a 30-7O blend of methylene chlo ride (technicalgrade) and Freon 12. With this exemplified makeup of the container unit,the cartridge case 23 and/or cap 26 may be of polystyrene, which willdissolve readily in the propellent. In such a make-up, the solids 24(bulking material and the resin) constitute 9% of the combined solidsand propellent, but because of the high solubility of the polymer ofpolyvinyl acetate in the propellent, these solids may be increased to 14or 15%.

- Another example of a highly desirable formulation for the solids 24 inthe cartridge 22consists essentially of stearic acid (including palmiticacid, if any) by weight and /3 methacrylate resin polymer (Lucite 46").With an acrylic resin polymer, the use of methylene chloride as one ofthe propellent ingredients is not so suitable because of theinsolubility of this resin in'methylene chloride. For that reason, thepropellent used with this solid composition is a 50-50 blend of Freon12and Freon 11. The percentage of solids in the container unit could beabout 9%.

In preparing the capsule 22, the two ingredients of the solidcomposition 24 may either be poured into the cases 23 separately in theright proportions, or the two solid ingredients may be premixed intheright proportions and the mixture then poured into the cases. The cases23 are then closed with the caps 26, one on either end, and thejunctures therebetween sealed with a suitable sealing material, such astoluol.

Loading of the containers 10 may be effected either with pressurizedequipment at room temperature to maintain the propellent in liquid formas it is poured into the container, or with the propellent at sub-Zerotemperature, so that the propellent may be handled as a liquid. Ineither case, the cartridge 22 containing the required amount of solidsand the required proportions of ingredients (bulking material and resin)is dropped into the container 10 through its top opening 12, and thepropellent 20 poured therein. Under these conditions the cartridge willnot disintegrate and its contents will not blow out into the atmosphere,as the propellent is poured into the container. The valve'cup' 13 withattached valve 14 and standpipe 17 is then crimped and sealed onto thecontainer body 11 over its top open ing 12.

Instead of a single, long cartridge containing the necessary solids, twoshorter cartridges may be employed for each container unit, especiallywhere a large percentage of solids is required. One cartridge, forexample, may contain the essential coating solids and the othercartridges may contain the resin, or both cartridges may contain themixture of these solid ingredients. Each of these smaller cartridgeswould preferably have a case and a cover, one or both of these beingsoluble in the propellent.

The elongated shape of the cartridge 22 illustrated, is particularlysuitable to permit the loading of said cartridge in the container body11 through the restricted opening 12 at the top. In certain loadingoperations, however, the container is loaded through the bottom, whilethe bottom is removed. In that case, the cartridge may be of widerdimension relative to its lengths and, for example, may be cup-shaped.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to aspecific embodiment, it is to be understood that it is not to be limitedthereto but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by thescope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In an aerosol container spray unit of the portable hand type, thecombination including a container, a solid in said container comprisinga mixture of different ingr edients held together originally as aself-contained cartridge unit when charged into said container, and aliquid propellent in said container having the property ofdisintegrating said cartridge unit and separating said solids intofinely divided sprayable form. t

2. In an aerosol container unit of the portable hand type for sprayingsurface coating compositions, the combination comprising a container, asolid in said container comprising a mixture of a fatty acid of thehigher series and a resin held together originally as a self-containedunit when charged into said container, and a liquid propellent of lowboiling point in said container having the property of disintegratingsaid cartridge unit and dissolving said solid.

3 In an aerosol container spray unit of the portable hand type, thecombination including a container, a cartridge unit in said containercomprising a case and a solid therein consisting of a mixture ofdifierent ingredients, and a liquid propellent of low boiling point insaid container having the property of dissolving at least a part of saidcase and of dividing and separating said solids into finely dividedsprayable form.

4. In an aerosol container spray unit, the combination as described inclaim 3, wherein said case is made entirely of material soluble in saidpropellent.

5. In an aerosol container spray unit, the combination as described inclaim 3, wherein said case consists of a body made of material insolublein said propellent and a closure therefor made of a material soluble insaid propellent.

6. In an aerosol container spray unit of the portable hand type, thecombination including a container, a cartridge unit in said containercomprising a case having at least a part thereof made of polystyrene anda solid in said case consisting of a mixture of different ingredients,and a liquid propellent in said container consisting essentially of oneof the Freons having the property of dissolving polystyrene and ofdividing and separating said solids into finely divided sprayable form.

7. In an aerosol container spray unit of the portable hand type forproducing a coating in simulation of snow, the combination including acontainer, a cartridge unit in said container comprising a case havingat least a part thereof made of polystyrene and a solid in said caseconsisting essentially of stearic acid and a resin of the classconsisting of polyvinyl acetate and acrylic resin, and a liquidpropellent in said container consisting essentially of one of the Freonshaving the property of dissolving polystyrene and of dissolving saidsolids.

8. In an aerosol container spray unit of the portable hand type forproducing a coating in simulation of snow, the combination including acontainer, a cartridge unit in said container comprising a case havingat least a part thereof made of polystyrene and a solid in said caseconsisting essentially of stearic acid and polyvinyl acetate inapproximate proportions of 2 to 1 by weight, and a liquid propellent insaid container consisting of at least 50% dichlorodifluoromethane (Freon12).

9. In an aerosol container spray unit for producing a coating insimulation of snow, the combination as described in claim 8, whereinsaid liquid propellent consists essentially of a blend ofdichlorodifluoromethane (Freon 12) and methylene chloride in proportionsof approximately 70 to 30.

10. In an aerosol container unit of the portable hand type for producinga coating in simulation of snow, the

combination including a container, a cartridge unit in said containercomprising a case having at least a part thereof made of polystyrene anda solid in said case consisting essentially of stearic acid andmethacrylate resin (Lucite) in approximate proportions of 2 to 1 byWeight, and a liquid propellent in said container consisting of at least50% dichlorodifluoromethane (Freon 12).

11. In an aerosol container unit for producing a coating in simulationof snow, the combination as described in claim 8, wherein said liquidpropellent consists essentially of a blend of dichlorodifluoromethane(Freon l2) and trichloromonofluoromethane (Freon 11) in proportions ofapproximately 50 to 50.

12. The method of producing an aerosol container unit of the handportable type, comprising the steps of providing a container with anopening therein, providing a capsule that is disintegratable by thepropellant employed to create pressure within said container,substantially filling said capsule with finely divided granular solids,sealing said capsule closed, placing said capsule in said container,pouring the propellent in liquid form into said container, sealing theopening in said container, said propellent reacting with said capsule torelease said solids, aflixing a valve to said container to releasepressure formed in said container by said propellent, said valve movableby outside pressure to release a mixture of the propellent and granularsolids which have been freed from said capsule and are mixed with saidpropellent.

13. The method of producing an aerosol container unit of the handportable type, comprising the steps of providing a container with anopening therein, providing a capsule, substantially filling said capsulewith finely divided granular solids, sealing said capsule closed with amaterial disintegratable by a propellent, placing the capsule in saidcontainer, pouring the propellent in liquid form into said container,sealing the opening in said container, and aflixing a valve to saidcontainerto release pressure formed inside said container by saidpropellent, said valve being movable by outside pressure to release thepropellent and the granular solids which have been freed from saidcapsule.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

